Apparatus for handling coils



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 28, 1942.

K. EGGE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS Filed May 6, 1941 April 28, 1942. EGGE 2,281,423

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS Filed May 6, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 28, 1942.

K. EGGE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS Filed May 6, 1941 s Shets-Sheet a -.2:- ll H II J Fig. 4

KIG II S FQ QG another order.

Patented Apr. 28, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to the handling of metal strip in coils, specifically cold-rolled steel strip which is to be processed by delivery in strand form to various types of processing apparatus.

In the operation of a so-called strip-shearing line, it has been the practice heretofore to place a coil of strip on a coil holder and uncoil it progressively therefrom. When the amount of metal necessary to fill the order has been sheared from the coil, the operation of the shearing line has been continued until the entire coil has been cut to length. The surplus of cut lengths, over the amount necessary to fill the particular orderin process, is then stored until it can be used on As an alternative, the shearing line has been stopped when the order is completed, and the coil removed from the holder and returned to storage by an overhead crane. Removal of the coil from the holder is also necessary occasionally because of variations in the gauge of the material as rolled beyond the permissible tolerances for a given order.

Both the aforementioned practices are open to serious objections. In the first place, it may be necessary to store the surplus cut pieces for a considerable period until they can be used on another order, and this contributes to the maintenance of a large inventory of material, which is undesirable. The practice of removing the coil from the coil holder by a crane is slow and necessarily involves a considerable delay in the normal production of the processing line. It is not always possible to have the usual mill crane available on short notice for this operation because of the numerous other jobs requiring its use. There is, furthermore, a safety hazard involved in every operation in which an overhead crane is used.

I have invented a novel coil-handling apparatus which overcomes the objections to the previous practices and provides means for expeditiously removing a partly used coil from the holder and returning it to storage in such a short time that the production of the processing line is not materially impeded. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, I provide entry and discharge ramps adapted to receive and deliver strip coils and a car having a coil support thereon, adapted to move from a position in alinement with one of said ramps into a position adjacent to a coil holder. I also provide means for automatically discharging a coil from the support on said car onto the delivery ramp, on return movement of the car from the coil holder. Other details and novel features of the invention will be pointed out in the course of the following complete description which refers to. the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment above mentioned. In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a portion of Figure 2 to enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line IVIV of Figure 2;

Figure'5 is a plan view of the parts illustrated in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a partial sectional view taken along the plane of line VI-VI of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a plan view of a lift-stand; Figure 8 is a side elevation thereof; and Figure 9 is a side elevation of a lift-bar.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the

coil-handling apparatus of my invention is adapted to receive coils from an entry ramp or runway IO and deliver them successively to a coilholder indicated generally at H. The ramp l may be composed, as illustrated, of a plurality of beams disposedv side by side and terminating adjacent a pit It. The coil-holder H comprises a mandrel l3 journaled in a suitable housing It and adapted to be driven by motor I to deliver strip to a processing line, for example, a stripshearing line at the entry end of which is located a guide IS. The mandrel I3 is preferably of the expanding type. While any suitable form of mandrel may be used, I prefer that disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application of John C. Holdgate et al., Ser. No. 375,084, filed January 18, 1941, patented January 27, 1942, as Patent 2,271,- 139, for Coil holder, and the construction of the holder ll, insofar as shown in the drawings, conforms to the showing of said co-pending application. A detailed description thereof is unnecessary, however, for an understanding of my invention, since it is sufficient, for the purpose of this disclosure, to state that the holder II is adapted to receive a coil on the mandrel I3 for unwinding on rotation of the mandrel by the motor IS.

A car ll comprises a frame l8 with wheels I! journaled therein and a depending well 20. The car I! travels along rails 2|. The pit 12 has a deepened central portion 22 to accommodate the well in the car frame. The car is actuated along the rails 2! by a fluid-pressure piston'and cylinder 23, the piston rod of which has a T-head connection 24 engaging a bracket 25 carried at one end of the car. The application of fluid under pressure to opposite ends of the cylinder may be controlled by any suitable manual valve (not shown). By such control valve, the car may be moved from the position shown in solid lines in Figure 1, where it is under the mandrel l3, to the positions indicated in chain lines, and vice versa.

A coil support or platform 28 is mounted on the car ill and comprises a bent plate, one side of which is carried on a rolling bearing 21, restin: on a bracket 28 but separable therefrom, the other side being pivoted by pins 29 to a lift or vertically movable standard 30, slidably received in the well 20. The standard and well are rectangular in horizontal section and have wear plates 3| secured thereto providing bearing surfaces. Instead of the plate 26, the coil support may be a pair of spaced rolls.

A hydraulic hoist, including a cylinder 32 and a piston 33, is disposed within the well 20. The cylinder rests on the bottom of the well indicated at 34. The upper end of the piston engages the top plate of the standard shown at 36. When fiuid under pressure is supplied to the cylinder 32 through a piping system, a portion of which is shown in 36, under the control of a suitable manual'valve (not shown) the piston 33 moves upwardly and raises the standard 30.

The initial upward movement of the standard 30 causes the coil support 26 to tilt from the position shown in solid lines in Figure 3 to the position shown in dotted lines. When in the former position, the left-hand edge of the support is in line with a table 31 whereby coils may be rolled onto the support from the ramp l without .substantial shock or Jar. When in,

the latter position, the support 26 forms a trough or saddle for supporting a coil such as that indicated at 38, so that it will not tend to roll off the support in either direction. A bumper 39 is disposed at the: side of the pit I2 opposite the ramp II) to prevent the coil from rolling over the support when being loaded thereon.

The tilting movement of the support 26 continues as the standard rises until an abutment 40 on one side of the standard engages a bearing plate 4| on the under-side of the support. It will be understood that, during the tilting of the support, the bearing 21 rolls on the bracket 28. After engagement of the plate 4i by the abutment 40, the standard 30 may be raised further to aline the eye of the coil with the mandrel l3. As this is effected, bearing 21 is raised ofl of the bracket 28. The coil may then be disposed on the mandrel, when the latter is collapsed, by traversing movement of the car. Upon subsequent expansion of the mandrel, the coil is firmly gripped thereby and the standard 30 may then be lowered and the car returned to the position indicated at 42.

A discharge or delivery ramp or runway 43 is located adjacent to ramp in. A lift-stand 44 is positioned beside the pit l2 opposite the ramp 43. The lift-stand is simply a fabricated bracket having an inclined surface 45. A lift-bar 46, secured to the platform 26, has an inclinedface 41 adapted to cooperate with the inclined surface 45 of the lift-stand 44, as illustrated in Figure 6. It will be apparent that on movement of the car toward the right in Figure 1, after-the standard 30 has been lowered to the position illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the lift-bar 46 will engage the lift-stand 44 and tilt the platform 23 on the pivot pins 29 to discharge a coil thereon, after the platform arrives at the position indicated at .43, in which it is in alinement with the runway 43.

Movement of the coils along the ramp may beeirected manually by the aid of bars and may be controlled by suitable chocks. When it is desired to place a coil'on the holder II, the car I1 is .moved to position 42 with its platform 23 in the position shown in solid lines in Figure 3. A coil is then rolled across table 31 and onto the platform 23. the position of the coil being as indicated in chain lines in Figure 3. The standard 34 is then raised by means of the cylinder 32 and piston 33. As previously explained, this initially tilts the platform and shifts the coil to the position shown in dotted lines. Continued elevation of the standard 33 alines the eye of the coil with the mandrel I3 of the holder Ii so the coil may be placed thereon by lateral movement of the car.

After the coil has been placed on the holder the outer end is unwound and fed to the processing line. If a portion only of a given coil is required to complete a particular order, unwinding of the coil is stopped when the required amount of material has been processed. After suitably securing the free end of the coil, as by tying, the car is moved under the mandrel I3 and the standard 30 raised until the platform 26 engages the surface of the coil. Subsequent collapsing of the mandrel will leave the coil supported on the platform, so that movement of the car toward the right, as viewed in Figure l, removes the coil from the mandrel. The standard 30 is then lowered to the position shown in solid lines in Figure 3.

Continued movement of the car brings the lift-bar 46 into engagement with the lift-stand 44 and tilts the platform 26 to discharge the coil therefrom when the platform is alined with the discharge or delivery ramp 43. When the partly used coil has been thus disposed of, the

-car I! may be immediately shifted into alinement with the ramp III to receive the first coil of the succeeding order, and the partly used coil on the ramp 43 may be picked up by a ramtype tractor or any other available lift mechanism, and returned to storage without interfering with the continued flow of coils along the entry runway, onto the car and thence to the coil holder.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description and explanation that the invention is characterized by numerous advantages. In the first place, since the portion of a coil not needed to fill a particular'order is returned to storage in a single piece, instead of being cut up, it may be used to fill a subsequent order for a diflerent width and length, which would not be the case if the entire coil were cut to the length required for the order being filled. In the second place, the partly used coil is returned to storage without seriously delaying the entry of the first coil for the next order. Interference with the production of the processing line is thus reduced to a minimum.

The mechanism for automatically discharging the partly used coil onto the ram 43 greatly expedities the handling of the unused portion of the coil. A further advantage is that after discharging a coil, the platform is returned to coil receiving position automatically as the car returns to the position 42.

Although I have. illustrated and described a preferred embodiment only of my invention, it will be recognized that changes in the construction and arrangement disclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Coil-handling apparatus comprising an uncoiler having a mandrel for receiving a coil of strip and supporting it during unwinding, a car movable axially of the mandrel, entry and discharge ramps terminating adjacent the path of said car, a coil-supporting platform pivotally mounted on said car for m0vement about an axis adjacent one side of the platform from coil-supporting position to coil-discharging position, and movable about an axis adjacent the other side of the platform from coil-receiving to coil-transporting position, means on the car for tilting the platform about the last-mentioned axis, and means for tilting the platform about said first-mentioned axis on movement of the car from the mandrel to a position opposite the discharge ramp.

' 2. In a method of handling strip coils through a processing line, the steps including rolling a coil along a predetermined entry path into a position laterally offset from the head of the line, moving the coil axially into a mandrel at the head of the line, starting the unwinding of the coil when so positionedand feeding it into the line, stopping the unwinding of the coil before it is fully unwound, stripping the partly unwound coil from the mandrel and rolling it along a discharge path different from said entry path.

3. Coil-handling apparatus comprising an un- -coiler having a mandrel for receiving a coil of strip and supporting it during unwinding, a car movable axially of the mandrel, entry and discharge ramps terminating adjacent the path of said car, a coil-supporting platform pivotally mounted on said car, means on the car for tilting the platform from coil-receiving position to coil-transporting position, and means for tilting the platform from coil-transporting position to coil-discharging position on movement of the car from the mandrel to a position opposite the discharge ramp.

4. Coil-handling apparatus comprising an uncoiler having a mandrel for receiving a coil of strip and supporting it during unwinding, a car movable axially of the mandrel, entry and discharge ramps terminating adjacent the path of said car, a coil-supporting platform pivotally mounted on said car, a lift on the car adapted to raise said platform and effective initially to tilt said platform from coil-receiving to coiltransporting position, and means for tilting the platform from coil-transporting position to coildischarging position on movement'of the car from the mandrel to a position opposite the discharge ramp.

5. Coil-handling apparatus comprising an uncoiler having a mandrel for receiving a coil of strip and supporting it during unwinding, a car movable axially of the mandrel, entry and discharge ramps terminating adjacent the path of said car, a coil-supporting platform pivotally mounted on said car having a bearing normally engaging a support on said car but separable therefrom, a lift on said car for raising said support and means whereby said lift initially causes tilting of the support on said bearing from coil-receiving position to coil-transporting position, and then effects vertical movement only of the support while maintaining it in coil-transporting position.

6. Coil-handling apparatus as defined by claim 5, said means including spaced portions of the lift one of which engages the platform only after an initial upward movement of the lift.

KIiAUS EGGE. 

